America's Debt Crisis Explained

Fact: America's national debt stands at $17 trillion. That's a tough number to grasp. Most people will never come close to making $1 million in any given year. How can we understand the magnitude of the hole our country is in? Well, imagine you owed your credit card company $200,000. On top of that you have to pay them about $4,000 per year in interest. You are bringing in $150,000 per year, but you are spending way more than that. How are you going to ever pay back that $200,000 debt? And what happens if you default? Well, that is America today. The problem is clear. And we brought Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, to propose a solution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices